Modern society’s weak judgment makes fanatical conviction socially magnetic

Evidence

In matters of taste, similarly, we are dependent on fashion, that is, on the social dissemination of actions and judgments until, later on, we know enough to pass aesthetic judgment on the thing itself. Thus, too, the necessity for the individual to transcend himself and thereby to attain a solid, stable, supraindividual orientation in matters of law, knowledge, and morality is first manifest as the force of tradition. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 268 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

We can discover one of the reasons why in these latter days fashion exercises such a powerful influence on our consciousness in the circumstance that the great, permanent, unquestionable convictions are continually losing strength, as a consequence of which the transitory and vacillating elements of life acquire more room for the display of their activity. The break with the past, which, for more than a century, civilized mankind has been laboring unceasingly to bring about, makes the consciousness turn more and more to the present. This accentuation of the present evidently at the same time emphasizes the element of change, and a class will turn to fashion in all fields, by no means only in that of apparel, in proportion to the degree in which it supports the given civilizing tendency. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 724 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Common sense is society’s incoherent assumptions while good sense is practical empirical judgment; The weakening of permanent convictions drives modern consciousness toward fashion — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 724; Social consensus precedes individual competence in judgment — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 268

Related

• The weakening of permanent convictions drives modern consciousness toward fashion (similarity 0.87)
• Social consensus precedes individual competence in judgment (similarity 0.83)
• Fashion heightens the felt presence of the present moment (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Social consensus precedes individual competence in judgment #corroborates (0.78) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 268
• Common sense is society’s incoherent assumptions while good sense is practical empirical judgment #complicates (0.75)
• The weakening of permanent convictions drives modern consciousness toward fashion #qualifies (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 724